12 Packing and Moving Tips for Your Next Move

Packing and moving needn’t be too stressful. There are ways of making the process smooth and hassle-free. It all comes down to planning. The few hours you devote to planning a move can save you a lot of time and frustration during the actual relocation. Here are some of the top tips to make the move swift, efficient, and stress-free:

Make things easier for yourself. If you think the move is too big for you to handle on your own, then you might as well call in the experts now rather than later. You don’t want to be the person who realizes that they’re going to need professional help after say half the job is already done.

Weigh the pros and cons of hiring a professional moving company. They might charge you more, but you want to be considering other factors too like distance of the move and the amount of household stuff you need to move.

Moving is one of the best times to get rid of stuff you don’t need. You can donate items to charities or give them away for free. You can also place stuff you no longer need for sale online.

Decluttering the household prior to the relocation is a great way of making the move hassle-free. Make a list of items that are lying around the house, but you wouldn’t be needing at the new place.

There can be items that are expired. Get rid of them. You may also have a collection of teas and spices that you never used. Chances are you won’t be using them at the new place either so get rid of them.

Using old boxes for your move is both risky and unsafe. The box may be compromised due to wear, and you may end up breaking expensive items like kitchenware.

Shop around for the right-sized boxes. Don’t fill large-sized boxes with a large number of smaller items, or it may be too difficult for you to lift and move them.

Use a mix of medium and large boxes with a larger number of medium-sized ones. Also, invest in some quality packing tapes.

Don’t wait until the eleventh hour to start the packing. It can be overwhelming to do everything the night before you move. A better strategy is to set a fair amount of time every day for the packing tasks.

Label the items you pack according to the room. During the unpacking, it will be simpler and quicker to find and unpack the items you need. You can also place the boxes directly in the rooms they are intended for and unpack them there.

These are the items you’ll be needing when you arrive at the new place. A move can be tiring, and you don’t want to be looking for them in all of the boxes. So pack them separately and have them handy.

Use old clothing, thick paper, or padding to pack the breakables. Also, fill gaps in boxes using foam peanuts or clothing.

Clothes tend to take up a lot of space. If you want to save space, consider rolling the clothes rather than folding them. Wrap hanging clothes in a garbage bag so they consume lesser space.

It helps to take photos of furniture parts. This makes it easier to assemble the furniture set after the move. Likewise, you can take photos to remember any technical configurations of your electronic devices during the packing.

That way you won't need any special tool for opening the boxes. Simply pull the wool string from one end to the other to pry the box open.

Chemicals, paints, and other hazardous items are best packed separately from the rest of the household stuff. You can also consider disposing of any open boxes of chemicals and paints you no longer need.

Some other items that ought to be packed separately include ammonia, fire extinguishers, heating agents, auto batteries, and chlorine granules.

Liquid bottles are often subject to leaks during a move. To work your way around this problem, cut out small pieces of transparent plastic and place them on the open liquid containers before fastening their lids.